Question reference: S6W-02602
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 2 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many social workers have been employed by each local authority in each year since 1999.
Answer
The information requested by Mr Briggs MSP is readily available on the SSSC website, and a detailed breakdown by local authority can be obtained directly from the official source.
Every year in August, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) publishes the ‘Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2020 Workforce Data’. This year's edition was the 10th set of official statistics. Official figures, therefore, only go back to 2011.
According to the most recent data, published in August this year, as of December 2020, there were 6,049 social workers employed in local authorities, the highest number recorded, representing a 1.5% increase since the previous year, 2019, or a 6% increase since 2011.